Beautiful World
by neutralizer
Summary: This is the sequel to Happier Days. It can be standalone and set in the post-3I world. Once again, C&C is welcomed.
1. The Beginning

**Author's Notes:** I'm sure you didn't even think I was alive let alone still going to continue to write fanfic. Let's just say I got some inspiration and I'm back writing this new fanfic. This is going to be a sequel to my first fanfic, Happier Days. If you've already read my first fanfic, that's great. This chapter is going to be redundant for you as it's starting off where Happier Days ended. While I hope to make it somewhat standalone, if you haven't read it already, I'd still suggest you first go and read that prequel before reading this one as a lot of it ties together. Like how I wrote Happier Days, I'm going to write this fanfic from both directions so that when they meet in the middle, the whole thing makes coherent sense plotwise. Once again, thanks for reading and enjoy!

Italics are for thoughts. Quotes are for speech.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion and am writing this fanfic for pure enjoyment.

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**CHAPTER 1: THE BEGINNING**

Shinji felt tired. Every muscle in his body ached, crying out in pain. He could faintly hear the soft rolling of waves. Mustering up his strength, he opened his eyes.

The sky was red. It was crimson red like a spray of blood across the sky. It scared him that the essence of life was poured into the heavens.

Shinji propped his elbows up to support himself, noticing that he was lying on a beach. The coarse sand dug into his skin while the red waves were gently licking his feet. It was comforting, yet at the same time, it was sickening. The blood of those he loved was bathing his feet. He scurried backwards on the sand in disgust. Each step sent pangs of pain shooting up his legs.

He desperately wanted it to end. Into the abyss. Into the darkness. He wanted to throw his head up and scream, but nothing came out of his mouth. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a mess of red.

Red. It was the color of blood. The color of life and death. The color of someone's hair. _Whose hair? _Asuka's hair.

"Asuka…" said Shinji silently.

He got up and walked over to Asuka's limp body. She was still in her red plugsuit. Her eyes were closed, at least the one that wasn't covered with a bandage. As she lay there, Shinji realized how helpless and vulnerable she looked. His eyes surveyed her arm. The bandage there was long, but he wasn't surprised. He had seen the kind of damage that the Production Series EVAs inflicted. The sight of them eating Unit 02 was something that would probably haunt him forever if he survived.

If he survived… The realization that he was in a post-apocalyptic world had dawned on Shinji. Everyone… they're gone. From what he could tell, he and what remained of Asuka were the only things left in the world.

Anger surged through Shinji. After all he had been through, he had to come back to this. Was this another dream? Was this some kind of sick joke that Lilith was playing on him? For her to send the lifeless body of the girl that he loved with him to hell. He lowered himself and straddled Asuka's waist. He put his hands on her neck and began to squeeze. Squeezing what he had already lost. Squeezing the humor out of a sick joke.

Suddenly, a warm hand caressed Shinji's cheek. It was something he wasn't expecting. Was Asuka really alive with him? Shinji loosened his grip, scared that he might kill the only one besides his mom who ever loved him. The memories of his dream flashed back to him.

"Shinji…" whispered Asuka in a meek voice.

"Asuka…" replied Shinji as tears welled up in his eyes.

Tears dripped onto Asuka's chest. Were these tears of sadness? Or tears of happiness?

Shinji stood up, afraid that Asuka would be infuriated for sitting on her. He held out his hand and was pleasantly surprised to find that Asuka accepted it, borrowing his strength to lift her up.

In the distance, Shinji could still see the split face of Rei-Lilith. It still had that twisted smile on it, a smile that for some reason scared Shinji. To his left, he saw that his companion had finished getting the sand off her back and was taking in the same view as he was.

"Hey, Asuka?" asked Shinji timidly.

"Hmm?"

"Do you remember anything when you were in there?" Shinji pointed towards the sea of LCL to illustrate what he meant by "there." Asuka didn't reply. Shinji looked over at her, only to see her deep in thought. After much thought, she shook her head.

Deep down, Shinji had hoped that Asuka would remember everything that had happened in the dream that he had while in the sea of LCL. All the experiences he shared with Asuka during the dream seemed so real. Especially the kiss they shared. He was sad to realize that those memories would only reside in him. It was hard enough to love an Asuka in a world without Eva. Would he be able to do it in this world? This world that contained a broken and beaten Asuka. The same Asuka told him that she hated him. Yet all he could think of was falling in love with her. Reacting to his thoughts, Shinji's hand reached out for Asuka's, yearning for warmth.

Asuka looked at Shinji's facial expression. It was the same depressing look that he held during their last week. Would she let it happen again? For some unknown reason, she seemed compelled to reach out and hold his hand.

Their hands met in the middle, entwining fingers desperately grasping for the warmth of the other. This was a union of complements.

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**End Notes:** Next chapter will have new material so stay tuned.


	2. The Storm

**Author's Notes:** And now for the new material. Also mail me if you'd like to be a beta reader for me.

Italics are for thoughts. Quotes are for speech.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion and am writing this fanfic for pure enjoyment.

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**CHAPTER 2: THE STORM**

Shinji and Asuka embraced for what seemed like an eternity. Neither were willing to let the other go. What if they were separated? They didn't want to live in this world without the other. Even if they were archrivals just weeks ago, the end of the world has that effect on people.

A growl emanated from between them. Startled, Shinji leapt back while still holding Asuka's hand. Consequently, Asuka was pulled forward and fell onto the sand.

"Sorry! That wasn't me!" apologized Shinji. Shinji became immediately worried when Asuka didn't say anything.

"Asuka? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. That was me. I'm really hungry and I didn't realize how weak I've become," chuckled Asuka, unused to admitting weakness to others.

"It's okay. After what you went through, that's more than understandable. What do you want to do?" said Shinji as he surveyed his surroundings for the umpteenth time, hoping this time, he'd spot something that he missed before. _What I would do to find a vending machine right now…_

When Asuka didn't respond to his question, Shinji continued, "You know what, you stay here and rest and I'll scour the ruins for anything to eat, okay?" Asuka's hand shot up and she pulled herself up. Shinji shot her a concerned look.

"No! I don't want to be alone right now. Please…" she pleaded.

"Fine, we'll take it slow," said Shinji reluctantly as he led Asuka slowly up the beach and through the fields of burnt grass.

* * *

"Do you remember what happened in there?" asked Shinji suddenly. Asuka stopped walking and looked at him puzzled, unsure of what he meant by "there."

The walk through the ruins had been mostly quiet between them minus the occasional bouts of gratitude from Asuka whenever Shinji helped her through some of the more difficult terrain. This wasn't something Shinji was used to from the once hot-headed redhead. Asuka has been nothing but nice to him since Third Impact and he wanted to know why.

Shinji was about to explain himself when Asuka said, "I don't know. It's all kind of fuzzy like when you remember the gist of a dream but can't remember the exact details."

"Well, what do you remember?"

"Right before I woke up—"

"You mean when I was sitting on top of you?" interrupted Shinji.

Asuka nodded and continued, "Right before I woke up, I remember the intense urge to just live—to survive and not repeat the many avoidable mistakes I've made in the past." Shinji again was taken aback by Asuka easily admitting any wrongdoing on her part.

"What about you? What do you remember?" asked Asuka in reciprocation.

"Uh… just like you—bits and pieces," lied Shinji. He didn't want to share his private dream of being with Asuka if she didn't remember either. It was too embarrassing for him to admit.

"My memory isn't in bits and pieces. I just remember what I felt before I woke up," explained Asuka. Sensing that Shinji didn't want to continue talking about it, Asuka trotted forward with a somewhat angry gait.

Suddenly, she gave a loud yelp as she stepped on some loose rocks, causing her to slip down a giant crater, but the yelp abruptly stopped as Shinji caught hold of her arm and pulled her to safety.

"Thanks."

Shinji didn't say anything, but instead prodded Asuka, indicating to her to look up. They'd been walking so nonchalantly that they didn't notice that they were now standing in one of the shadows of a ruined Production Series Eva. They didn't look as menacing in an Eva, but when you're the size of a human, suddenly, they're disturbingly massive. The face of the Eva was contorted in a half grin that caused Shinji to suddenly remember them eating Unit 02. With such a disturbing image conjured up in his mind, Shinji keeled over to vomit, but nothing came out. Their stomachs were running on fumes.

Asuka knelt down to help Shinji back up and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Seeing these… things. I remember so vividly them eating you. I'm sorry, Asuka. I couldn't save you."

Asuka's expression softened as she appreciated the concern that Shinji showed for her.

"It's okay. Thankfully, I blacked out so I don't remember any of it. I'd probably be as haunted as you if I did remember," laughed Asuka while poking Shinji in the chest. Shinji chuckled at Asuka's newfound optimism.

* * *

"At least we know we're near the city if we see one of these things." Asuka nodded in agreement and continued onwards.

It was starting to get dark already. Shinji could tell that Asuka was shivering, but he couldn't do anything. As much as he wished, he was no knight in shining armor.

"Maybe we should rest somewhere," said Asuka.

"What about food? Aren't you hungry?"

"It's okay, I'm on my second wind now. Either that or I've digested my stomach," said Asuka morbidly.

_There! That's the Asuka I know._

Both of them suddenly turned to their right after hearing an oddly familiar sound echoing in the distance. Despite not knowing what the source of the noise was, Asuka took off in that direction at a pace extraordinary for someone who was so weak. Shinji could barely keep up and had to use all his senses to avoid tripping and running into the debris that was strewn all across the streets of Tokyo-3.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of running, Shinji could make out the sight of a redhead kneeling down and hunched over. Worry spread across Shinji's face as his mind imagined that Asuka was hurt in some way which was an odd thought to have he admitted to himself. He wasn't used to showing so much actual concern for this particular redhead. That thought turned into one of confusion as he got close enough to make out a whiny noise coming from behind Asuka. As Shinji slowly walked up to Asuka, still panting, he was able to see why Asuka was kneeling: she was petting a dog.

_We're not the only ones on this Earth._

"For a guy, you have pretty shitty stamina," teased Asuka.

"Oh c'mon, Asuka. You've always scored better than me in the physicals."

"Yeah, but that was before I got beaten up."

Shinji knelt down to pet the dog during which he noticed what he couldn't tell from further away and in the dark: the dog was missing one of its rear legs.

"It's hurt," said Shinji, stating the obvious.

"I didn't notice, dummkopf," sneered Asuka sarcastically. Shinji shrugged off the thinly veiled insult. It was something he'd been used to for a while. It was the nice side of Asuka that confused him.

"I think it can move just fine though," Asuka continued. Asuka stopped petting the dog and got up to allow it to demonstrate. Almost as if on cue, the dog ran around in circles showing off its vitality.

"But how…" muttered Shinji, astonished that the dog was able to move around so effortlessly despite missing a limb.

"Life finds a way…"

Without warning, the dog took off into a seemingly random direction. The darkness beckoned not to follow but that never discouraged Asuka. She took off after the dog leaving Shinji trailing behind her, desperately trying to keep up.

It was so dark that Shinji didn't even know he had caught up with Asuka until he collided straight into her.

"Why'd you stop?" yelled Shinji over the incessant barking of the dog while rubbing the part of his chest that ran into Asuka's elbow.

"Look what she found for us, Shinji."

"Who?"

"Hope. That's what I named the dog. She found us a convenience store." Sure enough, the dog was barking and jumping in front of a convenience store. The windows were shattered and it was dark inside, but they had no reason to suspect that it wasn't stocked with food. After all, who would be around to loot it anyways?

They climbed into the store through the window, being careful not to graze themselves against the glass. If they got hurt now, there wouldn't be anyone to treat them. Hope jumped through the window effortlessly like some sort of canine acrobat and followed Asuka and Shinji around the store.

Asuka nearly slipped onto the ground as she walked up to the cashier's counter. She looked down at the cause: a puddle of LCL and a pile of clothes on the floor was all that was left of its previous owner. Somewhat shaken by the thought of treading on the deceased, Asuka rushed over to the baked goods section and lifted the cover off a plate and peered inside. Pastries. She touched them and found them to be cold. _Of course._

"What are you waiting for?" asked Shinji as he hungrily grabbed a pastry and shoved it into his mouth. Asuka, giving into her hunger, started nibbling at different piece. They worked their way around the store, examining what other foods there were and eating along the way.

"Nothing but junk food!" exclaimed Asuka as she threw her hands up in defeat.

_I don't know what she was expecting to find? A salad? _"So?" asked Shinji, used to eating foods with poor nutrition before he moved in with Misato. At the thought of Misato, Shinji muttered her name.

"What? Where?" Asuka spun around looking for their guardian whom they haven't seen in so long.

"No, she's not here. I just miss her. That's all." Asuka looked dismayed and quickly sat down on the cold tile floor of the store.

_Was that sudden burst of energy too much for her?_

"Hey, are you going to finish that?" asked Asuka, pointing at the bag of chips in Shinji's hand that he stopped eating from.

"No, you can have it. I'm going to look for some drinks," said Shinji as he turned towards the wall of fridges that ran along one side of the store.

"Thanks," Asuka said as she snatched Shinji's bag of chips from his hand, "We should probably conserve the food. Who knows how long this will last."

"Found some orange juice," said Shinji as he handed Asuka a bottle. She was so parched she practically chugged the entire bottle.

In the distance, they could hear the clouds grumbling. _The start of a rain storm._ Like clockwork, the patter of raindrops started outside and soon it turned into a full downpour. The sound of a nearby lightning strike caused Asuka to suddenly grab onto Shinji for artificial protection. There was something unusual about this rain storm as Asuka and Shinji, sitting on the floor of an abandoned store in half-embrace, scrunched their nose against the smell of warm blood in the air.

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**End Notes:** I'm considering on making the chapters shorter so that I have more time to update on a whim instead of having to sit down and write a particularly lengthy chapter. Let me know what you think in the reviews.


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